US-Pakistan relationship is under stress, admits Pakistan envoy Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry

Pakistan's relationship with the United States of America is under stress, admitted Pakistan envoy to the US, Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, and urged the US not stop viewing the country through the lens of Pakistan.

“Currently, it (US-Pakistan relationship) is under stress. I must admit,” Pakistan’s ambassador Chaudhry told a Washington audience this week.  “Sometimes we are viewed through the lens of Afghanistan, and since United States is not making progress in Afghanistan, that could actually be up against failure. Perhaps it is through — because of Pakistan and therefore tendency to view Pakistan in that narrow lens,” he said.

Similar sentiments were echoed by Pakistan Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif, who said the two nations should focus on improving bilateral relationship once again, and added that it hasn't reached the point of no return just yet.

“It is repairable, there is absolutely no doubt about it,” he told a news channel.

The US recently suspended about $2 billion in military aid to Pakistan, reportedly for failing to remove the Taliban from its soil. This comes shortly after US President Donald Trump tweeted that Pakistan has given the US nothing by "lies and deceit." He also called out Pakistan for reportedly providing "safe haven" to insurgents in return for the $33 billion aid Pakistan received over the last 15 years.

Amid tension between the two countries, a US drone strike in Pakistan’s tribal area of Orakzai Agency on Wednesday killed two people. The drone strike was targeted at an Afghan refugee camp.

Condemning the strike, Pakistan's foreign ministry said: “Pakistan has continued to emphasise to the US the importance of sharing actionable intelligence so that appropriate action is taken against terrorists by our forces within our territory.

"Pakistan has also been stressing the need of early repatriation of Afghan refugees as their presence in Pakistan helps Afghan terrorists to melt and morph among them.”

Therefore, such unilateral actions “as that of today, are detrimental to the spirit of cooperation between the two countries in the fight against terrorism,” the statement said.